Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, which changed the beauty industry in the 1990s with its natural approach to makeup, entered the metaverse on March 31st with two trademark filings. The applications, made with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), cover a variety of goods for use in virtual worlds. Officially, the applications are:
- IC 009: Downloadable virtual goods associated with images of cosmetics products for use in virtual worlds
- IC 041: Entertainment services, namely providing virtual cosmetics for entertainment purposes in virtual environments
The trademark applications position it to compete with Ulta, Maybelline, and Sephora, all of which filed similar applications for Web3 last year. In addition, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics filed the applications with “intent to use,” meaning that the company is interested in developing products for the metaverse rather than simply protecting its brand in the space.
What Bobbi Brown Cosmetics will do with the trademark applications is still unknown. But many experts in the field of makeup believe the metaverse will forever change the beauty industry, as it offers unlimited possibilities. Some companies are already experimenting with using augmented reality technology to give customers the opportunity to try on makeup digitally.
Bobbi Brown Cosmetics´ applications are among under 1,000 submitted to the USPTO for the metaverse in 2023, a number significantly lower than the amount submitted in Q1 of 2022. All told, trademark applications involving the metaverse have dropped 45% year-to-year, with some of the buzz associated with these virtual worlds possibly fading.
Web3 Trademark Applications Drop YOY: Expert Weighs In
If you’ve thought that news about companies filing trademark applications for Web3 has fallen this year, you’re not mistaken. As Mike Kondoudis, the leading U.S. trademark attorney, first reported on Twitter, the number of applications filed with the USPTO for this new area of technology has dropped precipitously in the first quarter of 2023. Here are the numbers:
- Crypto and NFT trademark applications: Down 66%
- Metaverse trademark applications: Down 45%
Rarity Sniper spoke with Kondoudis to figure out why trademark applications are so down — and if this trend would continue throughout 2023. He said that one of the key reasons is a situation that has ailed crypto over the past year: the economy.
“Right now, things are tough, but it looks like the economy is going to get worse,” Kondoudis said. “Recession is on the horizon. Credit is hard to come by. Angel investors are hard to come by. Crypto is experiencing a lot of headwinds right now and I think that’s part of the reason why the filings are down.”
He said he would call this moment a “pause” and that until the economy picks up again, it doesn’t seem like companies are willing to invest or plan to invest. But he also noted that most of the major companies filed last year — and that has taken some of the momentum out of the sector. As for whether trademark filings would be down throughout 2023, he said:
“Yeah, I would expect that we’re going to be down for the whole year. So, I would imagine that at the end of the year when you compare 2023 to 2022, I would expect a 50-60% reduction. I don’t see any reason why it’s going to turn, if it’s truly economic.”
Still, as Bobbi Brown Cosmetics has shown, some companies are still looking to file trademark applications in Web3, even if that just means catching up with their competitors. While it may be a year or more until these companies start rolling out products for the next iteration of the internet, the digital economy is starting to take shape.
Rarity Sniper will be here to report on those developments as always.
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